—Inside the Jewel.
Miranda and Shannon were facing off against Mireia.
Miranda was covered in wounds and gasping for breath, while Shannon had collapsed to the ground. Neither of them had been able to lay a finger on Mireia, alone against the two of them.
Watching their sorry state, Mireia calmly swapped out the bullets in her gun.
"Oh my, giving up already? You haven't even died thirty times between the two of you yet. This is an experience you'd never get in the normal world, so you should enjoy it more."
Facing Mireia Walt—who possessed Miranda's personality and appearance along with Shannon's Mystic Eye powers—the two of them couldn't manage to land a single hit.
That said, Mireia wasn't merely toying with them.
She let out a sigh, holstered her gun, and spoke to the two of them.
"Well then, let's take a short break. There isn't much time before Laiel heads to Kartafos, but I need to at least pass on the essentials."
When Miranda wiped away her sweat, her injuries had vanished and the sweating had stopped too.
"The essentials? This is it?"
Mireia nodded with a smile.
"That's right. After all, bearing the blood of House Walt, you won't be forgiven for staying at only this level. And Shannon... if you get serious, you can do something far more amazing."
Shannon grabbed onto Miranda and hauled herself to her feet.
"S-Something more amazing?"
"Of course. After all, there's no way you can't do what I can. Being able to see the flow of mana means you can interfere with the flow of mana. Oh, that reminds me—have you been studying your reading and writing properly?"
At Mireia's question, Shannon averted her gaze. That alone was enough for Mireia to understand that Shannon had broken her promise.
In an instant, Mireia closed the distance to Miranda and Shannon, and grabbed Shannon by the head.
"Shannon... I told you, didn't I? That you should study your reading and writing too. With mana-infused ink, the lines are visible even outside, you know?"
Held aloft with one arm, Shannon squirmed and flailed.
"It hurts! It hurts, Great-Grandmother! That's not it! While I was memorizing the characters, I tried drawing pictures because that was more fun!"
Watching Shannon offer such a poor excuse, Miranda thought.
(…Is this what’s possible if I master the flow of mana, the manipulation of mana within the body? If it’s only this level, Great-Grandmother is on par with Ceres. If it’s only this level…)
Mireia was strong too. But from Miranda’s perspective, having faced Ceres, the fact remained that it wasn’t enough yet.
Someone like her, who couldn’t even defeat Mireia, couldn’t hope to reach Ceres’s level.
"Hah… Great-Grandmother, could I ask you to spar one more time?"
At Miranda’s words, Mireia smiled and released her grip on Shannon’s head.
Shannon, who fell to the floor, rubbed her buttocks with her hand, apparently having hurt them on impact.
*'Sure. That drive to improve… I don’t hate it.'*
Mireia drew guns from her billowing sleeves and took aim—.
At the port where Trace family’s ship was docked, the four of us—Maxim, Damian, and I—were all present.
In the sweltering heat where sweat flowed freely, I watched Monica glare resentfully at Damian’s automatons.
"Why am I stuck on standby while the mass-produced ones get to go along? I… I understand the Chicken better than anyone!"
I let out a sigh.
"Then understand my feelings. You don’t need to put on an act—just follow the plan. Is the mansion all set?"
Monica had been biting her handkerchief, but she suddenly composed herself, straightened up, and answered my question politely.
"Yes. We’ve completed the cleanup down to the last detail in preparation for moving out. However, when it came to selling it, they really drove a hard bargain. Since we’re leaving in a hurry and all."
"Good to hear. We’ve lived there for a while, so I’ve grown attached to it. I wouldn’t want that place to become a battlefield."
Preparations were well underway, and the sale of the mansion was proceeding. Most of our belongings had already been moved to the new base of operations, where further preparations were being made.
Maxim sat on a wooden crate, his spear resting against his shoulder as he let out a sigh.
"I just hope the young lady will be alright."
Damian, who had been watching him, pushed his glasses up with a fingertip.
"You saw her this morning and you're already worrying? We won't be seeing her for a while, when you think about the journey ahead. You should trust her a bit more. Actually, I'm starting to wonder if she'll even be useful anymore. Lyriel, are you really sure she'll be okay?"
I hadn't expected Maxim to be this downcast, but I nodded along, hoping he'd feel a bit better once the actual fighting began.
"She'll be fine... probably? Well, we'll see how things go—"
Just then, Vera approached. She was dressed in her usual red, but since she had declined to join us on the ship this time, she was wearing a longer skirt.
Her hair seemed to have more of a sheen than usual. She had probably spent extra time styling it.
If the Fourth Generation were here, he would have made a fuss and told me to compliment her.
"Lyriel!"
Vera waved at me cheerfully, and Monica, looking slightly downward, muttered—
"Tch, make up your mind — is it two side-ups or twin tails? What's with trying to get the best of both? Black-haired twin tails... damn, she knows exactly how to get a guy's attention."
She was going on like that, but I ignored her and headed toward Vera. As I drew close, Vera reached out for me, pulling us almost together.
We probably looked like we were being lovey-dovey at the harbor — and we actually were — drawing the stares of everyone around us.
When I noticed, I saw Vera's sister Gina watching us from nearby, with Roland standing beside her.
But my Skill — Search — showed Vera and Roland in blue, while Gina appeared in red.
"Vera, thanks for seeing us off. By the way, your hair looks particularly gorgeous today. And somehow, you seem different from usual."
"H-hey! Don't just say stuff like that so casually. Besides, haven't you gotten smoother with your words lately?"
As I watched Vera looking pleased and tried to laugh it off, Gina approached with a smile and spoke up.
"Sister, that's enough for now. And Lyriel—"
"What is it?"
Gina's smiling face blazed bright red in my Skills display. She was obviously hostile, but detecting that from her expression alone would probably be tough.
"I heard it's a Guild request, but do come back in one piece, alright? Otherwise, your big sister will be heartbroken."
—Honestly, without my Skills, it would have been questionable whether I could have seen through her true intentions. She really was worthy of being the second daughter of the Trace family.
"I understand."
Then Roland addressed me as well.
"The head of the house was originally planning to come see you off as well, but he's been busy lately with port rights involving Galleria and Rusworth."
The Third Generation, upon hearing those words, murmured sadly from within the Jewel.
"…Fidel. He must be having fun right now, huh."
This guy knew everything and could still say something like that — he was definitely a deeply scheming one.
I hugged Vera in farewell and whispered in her ear.
"Vera, watch out for Gina."
Whether she caught on to what I meant, Vera smiled and nodded at me. The fact that she didn't interrogate me about it suggested that, as an older sister, she might have sensed something already.
A short distance away, Monica was watching us.
"It's not even Fever Time, and that Chicken is acting all chummy with a woman like that… Give me back the pure Chicken I once knew! Give him back!"
Just as I was thinking she was as annoying as ever, I noticed a group watching Vera and me.
It was Erhard and the others.
A party of five, fully equipped and carrying what looked like necessary supplies. Seeing Vera and me hugging, Erhard grinned.
"I still hate you."
That's what he said.
——Fidel was receiving reports from his subordinates at the manor.
The reason he looked somewhat pleased was that construction of the port was progressing smoothly. Galleria was on track, though Rusworth was running slightly behind schedule.
Even so, it was all within the scope of the plan.
"Lord Fidel, at Galleria, the next duke Lord Leold is leading the effort from the front lines, and development is proceeding smoothly. The port town and the surrounding highway improvements are also on track, so it looks like we'll be able to use the port ahead of schedule."
The other subordinate explained the situation at Rusworth with a slightly anxious expression.
"At Rusworth, we're short on people to lead the operation on-site. They seem to have a competitive streak against Galleria, and I'm worried they might push too hard, so... um."
Fidel turned to face the anxious subordinate.
"What is it?"
At that point, the anxious subordinate began to voice his opposition to the current plan.
"Lord Fidel, even for our house, the cost of developing two ports, plus preparing an additional new ship — if anything goes wrong, we'll be tipping over. I think we should give up one of the rights — either Rusworth or Galleria — and develop jointly with other merchant houses —"
The suggestion to develop jointly and split the profits sent Fidel into a rage.
"How much do you think House Trace has already invested in that brat?! Did anyone else invest? No! Those who did invest will be allowed to use the facilities at a reasonable rate, and we've prepared returns for them. There's no need to rescue those who lack the foresight to invest! Besides... lately, those people have been profiting too much off the war. If Baim doesn't change its ways, it will be rejected by its neighbors as a city of war profiteers. That's exactly why it's failing. If the Four-Nation Alliance comes to pass, wars will decrease. And yet they don't understand that —"
His own house also sold weapons and profited from war, yet Fidel let out a sigh.
However, he clearly understood that Baim's current trajectory was a problem. That was why the house also dealt in goods other than weapons.
"— In any case, this isn't the time to keep looking inward. Being called the greatest city on the continent while maintaining an insatiable inward focus — that needs to change. If we don't, Baim will —"
At that point, the other subordinate cut in.
"Lord Fidel, it's almost time for your scheduled appointment."
"Oh? Is that so. Come to think of it, Vera went to see that brat off, didn't she? 'Lend me the important ship,' he says, and she just goes along with it... lending it out, of all things. That's Vera for you. I mean, it is her personal property, but still..."
Fidel grumbled as he stood up, leading both subordinates out of the room.
In that moment, the light in the anxious subordinate's eyes as he watched Fidel held a new resolve —
On board the Vela Trace.
We had headed out to the deck to discuss the details of this request. On the surface, our main objective was to defeat Larque and rescue the queen.
We'd hired Erhard and his group as support, but if they had no work, they'd grow suspicious. Besides, protecting Erhard and his people's lives was also part of the request I'd taken on.
I'd already received the promised information from Marianne as payment, so I had to see this mission through.
And besides, no matter how you looked at it, I couldn't bring myself to abandon Erhard and his group.
Erhard pointed at us.
"This is weird, right! Normally you'd be more… Come on!"
With a look that said he couldn't understand any of this, Erhard turned to the four companions at his side, and all four of them nodded in agreement.
The whole thing started when we'd been talking and the conversation turned to Larque's Skills. A Skill that affected women—upon hearing about it, Erhard had joked, "If I had something like that, maybe I'd be a little more popular with women?"
However, our reaction to that joke had apparently rubbed him the wrong way something fierce.
In my case—
"Nah, I don't need Skills or anything like that."
Damian—
"I'm creating a one-of-a-kind woman, so honestly, I'm not interested."
Maxim said with a cool expression—
"Lady Adele is the ultimate. I have no interest in anyone else!"
—and declared it without a shred of doubt.
At that, Erhard stood up even though we were all sitting in a circle, and began shouting while gesticulating wildly.
"Don't any of you guys have sex drives! What do you normally do! Ah, Laiel, never mind. You're probably not a virgin anyway."
Hearing that, I couldn't stay silent and stood up myself. There were sailors all around us who were listening to our conversation. If this topic got back to Vera, it would be an absolute disaster.
"Correct yourself! I'm a virgin! And besides, in my case, it's a pretty sensitive issue! I have to be a virgin! Take it back, you hear me!!"
When I lunged at Erhard, he seemed to sense how serious I was and immediately retracted his statement.
"Er, ah... I-I'm sorry."
And then, Damian and the others stared at me with exasperated expressions. Then they declared it boldly, without a trace of doubt on their faces.
"Well, I just don't get it. You're saving it for that one special, irreplaceable person. What's wrong with being a virgin? Yeah, I'm a virgin. So what?"
Maxim nodded along.
"Exactly. I couldn't agree more. In fact, aren't the rest of you virgins? Having a girlfriend is fine too, but..."
Under Maxim's skeptical gaze, Erhard and the others averted their eyes.
"W-what's wrong with that? It's my own hard-earned money! I saved it up specifically for having fun! I'm not even in debt! What's wrong with visiting a brothel?!"
As it turned out, Erhard and the others had been visiting brothels to lose their virginity. How could they... I'd never even considered that option.
I collapsed to my knees and planted both hands on the floor.
"I-It was right there! That way, there'd be no weird talk about who gets my virginity or whatever. When I get back, I'm going to a brothel to lose mine!"
I said it as a joke, but Erhard and the others were looking at me with odd expressions. Apparently it wasn't funny.
Come to think of it, when I heard we'd be traveling with a bunch of guys, I thought it would be unpleasant, but it was actually fun. No, it was more liberating than I'd ever imagined.
Damian spoke up.
"Now that you mention it, I've been wanting to observe the female body. I see... a brothel, then... Maybe I could ask a small-chested woman to be my model?"
At that, Automaton Units One, Two, and Three, who had been standing by near Damian, bit into their handkerchiefs in frustration.
"When the ultimate beings such as ourselves are right here by your side..."
"Chests, you say? These chests right here... and yet you'd envy a washboard?"
"This reminds me of how Valkyrie Unit One's washboard Automaton sneered at me."
Among all of them, only Maxim never wavered.
"Oh, Lord Laiel, this isn't such a simple problem that it can be resolved that easily. Besides, you can't just pick anyone. It'll only create new problems down the line. Please, don't do it… Dying because someone stabs you in the back over a lovers' quarrel—that would be the worst possible ending."
Of course, I understood that too. From within the Jewel, I could hear Mireia's voice, giggling softly.
"Hehehe, I heard that! I'm telling Miranda! Laiel threw away his 'first time' with some other girl!"
…Right. There was someone living inside the Jewel. I suddenly remembered that what was supposed to be a fun, all-guys trip had come with an unexpected chaperone the moment I reached this point.